Tongans have celebrated the royal wedding of the Crown Prince to his
second-cousin but the marriage has raised concerns about the practice of
marriages between close relatives.

The Pacific nation held a national holiday today for the lavish wedding of the 27-year-old prince, Tupouto’a ’Ukukalala, who is first in line to the throne, to 25-year-old Sinaitakala Fakafanua, who is 26th in line.

The celebrations, which included traditional offerings by commoners of roast pork, marked the end of a 100-day mourning period following the sudden death in March of the flamboyant monarch, King George V.

But the marriage — the first of a crown prince in 65 years – has been mired in controversy over the decision to continue the practice of marriage between cousins.

In 1969, a 21-year-old princess studying in Auckland married a commoner policeman but was forced by her family to return home and have the marriage annulled.

According to Tongan royal protocol, members of the royal family must marry into a noble family to keep the bloodline strong.